1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to book binding methods and techniques, and more specifically to a book binding and method of same that can be turned inside-out and back again to enable a single volume to have more than one preferably non-detachable cover.
2. Description of Related Art
Bookbinding is a centuries-old art that has remained largely unchanged over the last 100 years or so. Advances in paper-making and printing have occurred, but book-binding itself has remained fairly consistent.
Increasingly, many books such as children's books or instruction manuals are being printed in more than one language. A first set of pages may be printed in English, and then a second set may be printed in Spanish, for example. The pages may be bound as a regular book, perhaps the back cover of the English side serving as the front cover of the Spanish side. One set of pages (e.g., one language version) may be upside-down in relation to the other so as to avoid having to read the second set of pages in the opposite direction to that of the first set (e.g., from right to left, if the first set is in English or another left-to-right language).
One of the disadvantages of this conventional model of bilingual works is that the book only effectively has a front cover; the rear cover is being used as the front cover of the second half of the book written in the other language. If the book is an instruction manual and it is left “face down”, then the “un-preferred” language front cover will be facing up, possibly confusing the user (who reads the other and hence “preferred” language). If the book is a children's book or a work of fiction, then the ability to utilize the entire cover of the book for artwork, games, or similar purposes is compromised.
Even apart from bilingual books, there is a long-felt need to create new and interesting types of bookbinding in an industry that has remained fairly stagnant from a creativity perspective.